Officials ID Guardsman found dead after police standoff

Police from surrounding municipalities and CMERT wait on Kauffman Road near Lynn Drive after a report of shots fired at the home of an AWOL National Guardsman Wednesday, July 10, 2013. (Photo by Kevin Hoffman/The Mercury)

LOWER POTTSGROVE — An autopsy was performed Thursday on the body of a township man found inside his home after a 5½-hour standoff on Wednesday.

The Montgomery County Coroner’s office finished the autopsy on Thomas A. Hripto at 4 p.m. Thursday, but a spokesman said the coroner was not prepared to release the exact cause of death.

The incident began Wednesday morning when Pennsylvania National Guard representatives went to the 1300 block of Lynn Drive to perform a well-being check on a solider they believed to be AWOL.

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Township police officers who were assisting the National Guard Command staff with the check on Hripto reported hearing a gunshot from inside the house at 11:45 a.m. on Wednesday.

When police heard the gunshot, they were not sure if Hripto was firing at them, so they called for assistance from the ChesMont Emergency Response Team (CMERT) and SWAT.

When officers entered the home about 5 p.m., they found Hripto, 37, dead in a second-floor bedroom of an apparent gunshot wound.

Officers from several police departments set up a large perimeter around the usually-quiet neighborhood, and helped assist students and faculty out of nearby schools.

Lower Pottsgrove Police Chief Mike Foltz said in a press conference held in front of Pottsgrove High School that Hripto had not responded to the National Guard since Friday. That absence prompted the well-being check, he said.

Sgt. Matt Jones, a representative with the Pennsylvania National Guard, said Hripto was a member of the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the 28th Infantry.

Between 2003 and 2004, Hripto was deployed to Kosovo as a part of a NATO peacekeeping mission, according to Jones.

According to a 2003 article in the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes, the 28th Infantry was, “The most-deployed National Guard division.”

Jones also said Hripto was on active duty during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Hripto served in other units, but Jones would not specify which ones.

According to Jones, it was likely that Hripto’s unit was about to start training, because most units train in the summer.

Foltz said in one of three afternoon updates to press that to the best of his knowledge, Hripto lived alone. A neighbor who was waiting at the high school for the all-clear from police, said he never saw anyone go in or out of the house other than Hripto.

After the incident was concluded around 5:30 p.m., Foltz said there were injuries to police officers, National Guard staff or nearby residents, police said.